In a Way
by runawaylikeitwasyesterday
Summary: What ever happens to the mundies who are saved by the Shadowhunters? A quick run in with some vampires and three mysterious teens... Fight scenes, sarcasm, gotta love it. One Shot, Pre COB
1. Chapter 1

_Heey Mortal instruments fans. I needed a quick break from writing my other fanfics, and thought I should write something for one of my favorite book stories. This is starring my own character, Emma, who I freaking adore :) If you appreciate her and like the TV show BONES, please check out my fan fic "prove it"_

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_**MUST READ**_: _You should probably know a little tiny bit of background info on this character if you want to understand. She's 13, homeless, and she doesn't have any proof that she existed at all, somebody basically burned her. And this story is pre COB. That's all. Enjoy._

For the fifth time that night, I kneeled against the dripping brick building I walked by and let out a spasm of coughing loud enough to raise the dead.

I leaned against the soaking property and shivered against my rain soaked clothes. It was freezing, and I looked and felt like I had just jumped into an icy pool from the relentless downpour. My lungs seemed to burn, and I was so dizzy I couldn't see straight, not that it mattered because my eyes were so swollen. I trail blazed along the brick structure blindly, praying for some form of shelter, but all I got was a gust of chilly wind sending trash into me as I finished my hacking fit and choked on the bile rising up against my throat. Heaving, I stood up trembling and continued my quest for a wind breaker.

My muscles were limp from exhaustion, but I couldn't sleep. I hadn't eaten in a day, and being so sick, I was too vulnerable to be sleeping out in the ghettos. I needed to find some alley way, or a trash bin, anything.

How long had it been since I started to live like this? 4 months? 5? Time flew in strange chunks when you lived like a rouge. If you were stealing food, for example, everything seems to go into hyper rush around you. If you ran into a gang's territory, it felt like those dreams where even though you're running as fast as you can, everything is happening in slow motion. Perception is an unusual thing. But it could occasionally come in handy…

Suddenly, the hairs slick on the back of my neck seemed to prick up. My spine tingled, and it wasn't because of the uncontrollable shivering. I could feel someone's eyes watching me. Not the usual glance, but a deep, lingering stare.

Adrenaline seemed to rush in too early, and I cursed under my breath. The high kick of energy wouldn't last forever, and I would need the extra time if I actually had to defend myself. The crash afterwords would exhaust me even further.

With the sudden spurt of energy, I turned around and saw 3 figures walking towards me. A more unobservant person may think that this should only be a normal passerby situation that you wouldn't think twice about, but I saw deeper then that. They walked exactly side by side in the exact same march, left feet moving in harmony, same with the right. It was pouring down buckets of rain, yet they were in summer wear: Khakis, tank tops, and flip flops. And they weren't running or shivering.

Something was going on.

It seemed to be so painfully slow, the time it took for them to walk a few feet over and stop a few in front of me. Two men, one woman. The woman hissed and leaned forward, but one of the men elf her back while the other flexed his hands methodically.

We stared at each other for a few seconds until I got bored of the drama.

"Hi." I said, sounding falsely cheery and sarcastic. Man #1 frowned and stepped forward.

"She smells… of dirt." he stated dully.

"We've only just met." I muttered sarcastically, though I was taken aback.

"That's only the skin and grime!" Man #2 said, barely getting his words out before the woman shrieked longingly.

That was the only distraction I needed to run for it.

When you're panicked and sick, running is a hard thing to do. Your legs don't move fast enough, all your limbs are locked and it hurts to move them. You tend to stumble and stop breathing, and then you always make the mistake of looking back right when the enemy is hot on your tail.

I high kicked blindly, hitting hard flesh, and although it looked like I caught him off guard, he grabbed my ankle and twisted it so I fell down. I turned myself onto my back and kicked up just as the woman was about to fly onto me, but the man was running to fast and I knew I couldn't stop him in time…

WHAM! I cringed at the sound of the impact before realizing it was not against me. 3 teenagers seemed to appear out of thin air, donned with… tattoos? Tattoos and glowing, curved weapons. A blonde boy jumped and flipped into the air before landing in front of the woman, blocking any attack attempts with what looked like a luminous, miniature sword. One girl wearing a long dress dived swiftly under and over as if she were dancing, laughing at the second man's attempts to hit her. They black haired boy didn't seem as smooth as he ran, but he turned at the last minute and threw a dagger that whistled past the other man's ear. I crawled against the wall, terrified for a few seconds before watching in horror as the girl slid on the slick, wet concrete, and the man she was fighting slowly turned as if he were to advance on the occupied blonde…

I didn't even think before I raced for the gap between the man and the boy. I leaned back and slid at the last minute right into him.

Time stopped.

He looked me right in the eye, a great fury bubbling under his irises, and he pushed me with impossible strength into the wall before the blonde could raise his weapon against his back and…

I hit the brick and everything went black.

It was like those movies, where the screen goes black and you hear the distant voices.

"Think she's alive?" asked the female.

"Of course she's alive, Iz." answered a bored sounding male. "Dead people can't bleed."

"Bleeding, where? Jace, could you help me with this iratze…"

"Her head. And get your sister to do it, Alec, I'm a bit preoccupied…"

"It's a head wound, those can be tricky, we should get her to a doctor."

"What? Iz, no way. She's a mundie, she'll tell the workers…"

"Shut up, Alec. She has a head wound, they would never believe her."

"Why don't we just wait for her to wake up and we can take her to her parents, she's just a child anyways."

"Awww, Jace is being so nice. It's just because she tried to save you, right?"

"Surprisingly, Isabelle, my immodest ego is occasionally tainted by a bit of concern, one that which has nothing to do with an unnecessary rescue attempt by a mundane."

I opened my eyes to find the three teens right in my face, contemplating on what to do. I decided to help them out.

I bolted.

Just as I managed to sprint a few feet, not only did a sudden wave of nausea hit me, but the blonde suddenly swung me up and pinned me against the brick. I couldn't hold myself up, I was dead weight in his hands and I dropped to the ground.

"What the hell, mundie, you've got a head wound." The blonde said, exasperated, and I recognized his voice as "Jace."

"Ha. I've had worse." I said, slowly rising to my feet.

He looked around 16, and was very… bad ass, I'll admit. His tattoos ran across his muscular body, almost covering most of his strange pale scars. A belt swung around his hip, with what looked like a few oversized pocket knives. The other two, Isabelle and Alec, stood a few feet away.

I turned to the side and attempted merely walking away, but he annoyingly kept up pace. "Where do you think you're going?" he asked obnoxiously, as if he already knew any answer I could throw out.

I decided to play along. "Anywhere."

"If your options are so unlimited, may I suggest a hospital."

"If you were suggesting it, you would say it like a question, which you didn't."

"I don't need a lesson in verbal communication, I happen to get by perfectly well on my looks, but that's for a later discussion." he said cockily.

"Well, looks don't exactly get you by when the ER asks for money, now do they?"

"We were about to take a cab, we can drop you off at your place, then."

I was about to reply when Alec interrupted. "Come on, Jace, I want to go home, Maryse is coming back and there will be actual food…"

"What, like my spaghetti wasn't perfectly acceptable?" snarled Isabelle.

"Not when you mistake the garlic for red pepper, how can you even do that? They're two different colors…"

"I don't have a home." I whispered, inaudible over the squabbling behind us.

"What? I can't… YOU TWO, SHUT UP. Alec, you can live for 10 minutes. Isabelle, yes, somehow you actually did manage to demolish even the concept of noodles in tomato sauce. Now be quiet."

I stopped and turned, suddenly feeling terribly claustrophobic. Jace was in front of me, the wall to the back of me, and my mind was in overdrive.

"I don't have a home." I said bluntly for the second time.

All three's eyes squinted at the same time, and Jace hesitated for a fraction of a second. "Of course you have a home, how old are you?"

"13." I answered icily, taking him aback. "Excuse me for not carrying blankets in a shopping cart, I find that horribly degrading."

His eyes suddenly shone with ire. "Well, run back to mommy and daddy and apologize for running away." he said, cooly.

I stood on my tip toes. 'Mommy and daddy are dead, actually, and the big scary foster system kicked me out." I said, talking and grinning foolishly as if I were speaking to a young child."

He raised his hand and I cringed, covering my face.

Nothing came. I peeked through my trembling fingers and saw that he had only reached up to ruffle his hair, but was looking at me increjudasly.

We stared at each other for a few seconds before he spoke. "You thought I was going to hit you?"

I couldn't move for a few seconds before I simply turned and started walking away again. "Hey!" Alec called out, and I turned roughly.

"Why?" I asked.

"Why what?" asked Jace, cocking an eyebrow.

"Why did you help me?"

Isabelle grinned. "Because we love killing things!" She sang.

I unsuccessfully tried to hold back a quick laugh. Then I pressed my hand to my fhair, felt the sudden gush of blood that fell from my head, and collapsed.

I woke up in a large room on a bed. My fever had gone, my head wasn't bleeding, and I could feel my toes again. I could only come to the result that I was in he home of Jace, Alec, and Isabelle.

I sat up to discover some new clothes at the foot of the bed, that it was midnight, that my filthy, wet clothes had dirtied the white linens, and finally a small note giving me directions to the kitchen in the morning. I had to be quick, no time to look around.

I took a brisk, hot shower (a luxury I hadn't had in months), bringing my dirty clothes in to wash them, and changed into the clothes that were probably once Isabelle's. I ran into the kitchen as silent as possible and shuffled through the fridge to find the spaghetti I heard about, some very flat, burnt looking pancakes, and then a pork chop that smelt oddly of grape juice. If Isabelle's creations were truly as bad as they looked, which they probably were, then I knew they wouldn't be missed. I chucked all the food in a gallon sized plastic bag and looked around for the exit.

"It's to the right."

I jumped and turned to find Jace in a pair of flannel PJs, looking tired yet slightly amused.

"I, er…" I stuttered.

"And if you want, Isabelle tried to make bread the other day without adding any yeast."

I just stared, then frowned apologetically. "I can't stay." I said.

"You can't." he agreed.

I looked at him, squinting my eyes. "Jace, you know those people yesterday? The ones who tried to attack me?"

"Yes." he said, smirking.

"Did you really kill them?"

"In a way."

I didn't quite understand, but then again, I didn't have to. There were so many more secrets to him, that I was sure of, but they were called secrets for a reason. I would never truly know.

"Thank you." I said simply, before turning to the exit. I ran out into the night, where the storm had ceased to become a gentle mist.

I hope you guys liked it, because I know I do. But then again, it is 2 in the morning and my judgment is probably a bit biased. I hope you won't rain on my parade, but if it's your honest opinion, feel free.

Please review. I'll love you forever and review your story too. In fact, I'll review multiple chapters.

love and ramen noodles.

rb


	2. Not a chap, but please read!

SO

Hey everyone.

This isn't exactly a chapter, but I was wondering, would you guys read this if I extended it into a long fanfiction? Like, one where Emma was actually a shadowhunter

What would you think? Would you subscribe, review, etc?

Reply back to me


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